Mourners Bid Farewell To Banquet Hall Partner

May 3, 2003|By Rafael A. Olmeda Staff Writer

North Miami Beach — National and local political figures, wealthy business associates and employees, friends and family members paid their final respects Friday to the victim of Tuesday's murder-suicide at the Signature Grand banquet hall in Davie.

Jerome Berlin, 60, was remembered as much for his personal quest for faith as for his fund-raising prowess.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle and former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Harvey Ruvin delivered eulogies. But it was Berlin's son, Bret, who drew the most tears -- and even a few smiles.

"This world was lucky to have Jerry Berlin in it," he said. "He blazed a trail across the sky and moved through the earth like a bulldozer."

Bret Berlin, 34, looked out at more than 250 mourners gathered at the Levitt Weinstein Memorial Chapel and, injecting a moment of levity into his tearful farewell, he said his fund-raising father rarely brought so many into one place without asking them for money.

Jerome Berlin was shot to death in his office at the Signature Grand in Davie. His business partner, Michael Pecora, fired the fatal shots before turning the gun on himself, according to police. The partners owned the Signature Grand and the Signature Gardens in Kendall.

Police have not declared an official motive, but Pecora was thought to be upset because Berlin fired his wife, Arlene Pecora.

Police released no new information about the case Friday.

Pecora's name was not mentioned at Berlin's memorial service, and the circumstances of his death were acknowledged only indirectly.

"Out of the blue, so surreal, yet so painfully real, the unthinkable happened," said Ruvin, beneficiary of a long personal and political friendship with Berlin.

Daschle, who served as a pallbearer, told mourners that so many senators wanted to attend Friday's service that they would probably have to schedule one in Washington, D.C., to accommodate them.

"I doubt there's a senator today who has not had at least one conversation with Jerry Berlin," Daschle said. Despite raising more money for his campaigns than anyone else, Daschle said, "not once did he ever ask me for a favor, legislatively. Not once."

Berlin's political passion was his advocacy for Israel, eulogists said. He would frequently travel with political figures to introduce them to Israeli people and places, convinced that they would make the case for Israel better than he could, Ruvin and Daschle said.

Others who attended the service included Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Fort Lauderdale, and former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth.

Bret Berlin spoke of his father's devotion to Judaism and said it helped bring them closer to each other over the past several years.

"When these tears dry, I'm going to have happy memories and a rejuvenated spirit," he said.

Jerome Berlin's body was laid to rest at Lakeside Memorial Park in Miami.

Services for Pecora are scheduled for Monday in Davie.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4207.